Episode 148: Dungeons & Dragons, New Coke, and Other Terrible Mistakes (News Show)

Virtual Economy

Wizards of the Coast squandered goodwill to find itself right back where it started. Also: Earnings season has begun, the GDC State of the Industry report shows developers put the smackdown on Web3, NPD for December shows a bit of lift, and (as we grimly expected) we’re in the layoff bad times.

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TIME STAMPS

• [00:01:17] - Learnings for the GDC State of the Industry Report
• [00:26:42] - Wizards of the Coast Fizzles OGL Update
• [00:30:05] - Microsoft Q2 FY23 Earnings
• [00:41:33] - Investment Interlude
• [00:45:38] - Quick Hits
• [00:52:36] - Labor Report
• [00:57:05] - NPD for December 2022

SOURCES

• Earnings Release FY23 Q2 | Microsoft
• Microsoft Corporation Form 8-K | United States SEC
• Xbox's Phil Spencer Says Microsoft's 10K Layoffs 'Hurts' In Email To Staff | Kotaku
• A Working Conversation About the Open Game License (OGL) | D&D Beyond
• OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons | D&D Beyond
• Unity lays off almost 300 staff | Eurogamer
• Riot Games to lay off nearly 50 staff as part of "strategic shifts" | Game Developer
• Hasbro lays off 15% of staff to cut costs | Eurogamer
• Ex-Sega developer highlights lack of credit for translators | Eurogamer
• Workers at World of Warcraft studio Proletariat withdraw union petition | Polygon

INVESTMENT INTERLUDE

• Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal - sources | Reuters
• Playtika tries to buy Rovio | GamesIndustry
• SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT MAKES SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT IN MEGA CAT STUDIOS | Skybound